“You’ll see,” Max said with a hint of a smile. “Anyone see any zombies around?” There weren’t any in the immediate vicinity. They’d passed a few stragglers down the road, but they were too far away to see the SUV.
“I don’t see any of them,” Frank answered. “But I definitely see signs that the horde went by here.” The road was almost crimson with drying blood, and there were a lot of dead bodies that looked like they’d been trampled. Severed arms and legs were scattered about as if they’d simply fallen from the dead as they walked by.
“I think we’re good, Max,” Junior said.
Max surprised them all by turning into what looked to be nothing but woods. Just out of sight of the street, he pulled up to the wall and the wrought iron gate. He smiled when he saw the plywood camouflaging the gate. He hopped out and went over to unlock it. By some miracle he’d managed to hold onto his keys over the last few days. He did another quick sweep to make sure no zombies were nearby then drove through the gate, stopping only to close and lock it behind him.
“Holy shit, this place is well hidden,” Vince said with awe in his voice.
“I grew up in apartments practically sitting on top of other people. When Anna and I bought this house, we wanted complete privacy. The house isn’t anything fancy, but we love it. The property is what sold us. Jesse and I,” Max paused for a second. “Jesse and I put in the wall and the gate.”
Max drove up the driveway toward the house and stopped in front of the garage. He was impressed by the boards and bars on the windows. The cut-outs looked good for them to be able to see out from the inside. “We’re home, boys,” Max said with a smile. Approaching the enclosed front porch, Max pulled the storm door open then grinned when he saw the three horizontal bars mounted across on the inside. “Think you can squeeze through these, Frank?” he said with a laugh.
“Maybe if I strip naked and oil myself up,” Frank deadpanned. The guys laughed with him. Max, Junior and Vince had all gone through without much difficulty. Frank had to damn near pull off a gymnastics routine to pull his body through. He looked ahead at the solid main door of the house covered in the same manner with three horizontal bars. “Damn it,” he said.
As Max reached to open the front door, the handle was pulled from his grasp as Damon whipped the door open. “Dad!” he exclaimed. Max climbed through the bars and picked up his son in a giant bear hug. “I missed you kiddo,” he said with tears of joy welling in his eyes at seeing his son safe and alive and no worse for the wear. He glanced around and saw some of the fortified windows. “You did good with the house. I’m damned proud of you.”
Damon suddenly realized that there were three unfamiliar men with his father. Max made quick introductions before asking Damon where everyone else was.
“Lucia and Joey are sleeping. I think Michelle might be cooking, I’m not sure. Hey, where’s Jesse?” Damon asked as he realized that he wasn’t among the men who had just entered the house. Max just looked at Damon with a pained expression on his face and Damon knew that Jesse was dead. A wave of sadness washed over Damon’s features.
“Um, Mom and Camille are gone,” Damon said. As Max’s face fell Damon quickly explained. “Camille got caught in front of the horde. She couldn’t get back to us without leading them straight to us, so she took off running. She hasn’t come back yet. Mom and Emily left a little while ago to go search for her.”
Max took a moment to digest the unexpected information. Just as he and Jesse had both been sure that they would make it home to their families, Max had been sure that once he finally got here his family would be safely waiting for him. Emily? He wondered to himself, but figured they’d picked up a stray and the mystery woman was the least of his concerns right now.
Michelle came running into the room, her long hair dripping wet from her unfinished shower. She’d heard the faint voices of the men as they had come in. In anticipation of seeing her husband, she’d almost gotten tangled in the shower curtain and nearly fell on her ass in her rush to jump out of the shower. She didn’t bother with a towel and quickly pulled on some clothes before running toward the living room.
As she rushed into the room, her eyes briefly settled on Max’s face before quickly scanning the faces of three men she didn’t know. She was so startled she had to look twice. Meeting Max’s gaze as he reached out for her, she started saying, “No, no, no, no, no. Why?” That was all that escaped her mouth before she fell to the floor sobbing. Max bent over and wrapped his arms around her trying to soothe her. She looked up and hit Max square in the chest, “Why?!? You were supposed to take care of each other!” She screamed while sobbing.
The sound of her anguished screams broke a piece of his heart that he knew he’d never get back. He tried his best to comfort her by holding her tight and letting her sob into his shoulder. Her body was racked with her cries. He tried to be strong but felt himself overcome with tears. He kept his arms wrapped around her as she cried and cursed everyone and everything. His tears fell silently as he felt the depths of her agonizing pain as she sobbed uncontrollably.
With everything else in the house silent and no noise from outside to mask sound, Joey and Lucia woke up to their mother’s cries. Tired, confused and worried, they both walked down the hallway to find their mom on the floor sobbing while wrapped in Max’s arms. For a moment they just stood there trying to take in and make sense of what they were seeing. Max was home. Their dad had finally made it, so why was she crying? Max was there, but it gradually dawned on their tired minds that they saw only him and not their dad. Their mom was sobbing because their dad wasn’t with Max.
As Joey and Lucia approached, Max looked up at them. They saw the tears running down Max’s face and their worst fear was confirmed before anyone said a word.
“No,” Joey said in disbelief as tears welled in his eyes. “No, no, no.”
“Mom,” Lucia started just before her tears started to flow freely.
“Oh baby, come here, both of you, come here,” Michelle managed as she sobbed.
Michelle’s eyes were red and swollen and her breathing was coming in quick sharp breaths. Max pulled back as Michelle and her kids enveloped each other in one big embrace. Her anguished cries were joined by those of Lucia and Joey. The tightknit, loving family grieved deeply for the loss of Jesse. The raw emotion was so strong that Max turned away, feeling like he shouldn’t be watching them.
He moved over a few feet and sat with his back against the wall giving them some space while staying close by. His own grief was equaled only by the heavy weight of the guilt he felt for not bringing Jesse home safely with him. A small part of his mind knew that it wasn’t his fault, but his heart told a different story. Seeing Jesse’s wife and children suffer such a devastating loss was almost more than he could take. But he had promised Jesse that he would take care of his family. Max had to find a way to be strong for them.
Max had no idea how much time had passed before Michelle and the kids started to calm down. It seemed as if they had run out of tears to cry. They remained on the floor staying close to one another with Lucia’s head firmly planted against her mother’s chest as Joey pulled himself away just enough to sit up straight.
Michelle and Joey looked up to Max with questions in their eyes but hesitation in their voices. Michelle wanted to ask Max exactly what had happened but felt like she couldn’t form the words to ask. Just the thought of asking caused new tears to start flowing. Michelle shook her head, as if to stop the tears from falling, because she needed to be strong for her kids.
Max saw the looks on their faces and knew that they wanted to know what had happened, but they were afraid to ask. He looked them directly in the eyes just as Joey was about to speak.
“He didn’t suffer. And he isn’t one of the dead,” Max started as he fought against the tears starting to well back up in his eyes. “He wanted me to tell you how much he loved you, Michelle. How much he loved you, Joey and Lucia and how proud he was of both of you. He said
that he’ll see you again someday.”
Max pulled Jesse’s phone, wallet and wedding ring from his pocket and handed them to Michelle. She began to stand up and started to tear up again when Max placed Jesse’s wedding ring in her hand. She hugged her kids then hugged Max. Struggling to hold back more tears, she thanked him.
“I’m sorry for hitting you. Thank you for bringing back his belongings,” Michelle said as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Now go find Anna and Camille.”
Max realized the guys were no longer standing near him. At some point during Michelle and the kids’ outpouring of grief, Damon had led them to the family room. He appreciated the privacy they had given him. With his jaw tight, he spoke to all of them. “I have to find my wife and daughter,” he started. Speaking directly to Damon he said, “I need to know everything you know about what they planned and where they were going.”
Damon filled them in with what little information he had and offered to help his dad search. “I’m sorry son, but you need to stay here. I have to focus on finding them. If you’re with me, part of my focus is going to be on keeping you safe and I need to keep all of it on them,” Max said. Damon nodded in full understanding.
Frank, Junior and Vince all offered to go with Max. “You know, I’d feel good knowing that a couple of you were here looking out for everyone. These kids have had a lot of weight on their shoulders the past few days. Damon can give you the tour, show you our supplies, and I’m sure he could use some help keeping watch and doing perimeter checks. Plus, showers for everyone,” Max said with a hint of a smile. “There’s the sectional here and two couches in the living room so you guys can get some sleep.” He was feeling a bit frazzled trying to think of what else he should tell them.
“Hey, we’ll get it all figured out,” Frank said kindly. “You go find your wife and daughter and bring them home.” Vince had already insisted that he be the one to go with Max.
“Thanks man,” Max replied and gave Junior a nod as well.
He went to the kitchen counter where Anna had already bagged up most of their weapons. He chose guns, loaded them and grabbed extra magazines. He gave Vince a nice Gerber knife and told him to help himself to whatever weapons and ammo he wanted. Vince had his own shotgun and Glock, so he grabbed ammo for both. Their packs quickly loaded with a third containing nothing but water, they got ready to leave.
Max was still coming to grips with the fact that his wife and daughter were both out there somewhere and that Camille was all on her own. He wasn’t sure how he would do it, but he was determined that he would find them. He wouldn’t let himself entertain the possibility that either of them could be dead. Anna was strong and stubborn. Camille shared those traits with her mom. She was also young and athletic, and he hoped that had worked in her favor.
Max and Vince walked out the door to face the unknown. Max headed out with a strong sense of purpose that only a determined husband and father could.
EPILOGUE
Camille ran. She placed herself in front of the lead element of the horde and ran straight down the street, following the dotted line. She thought she might dash into an empty house or yard once she put a little bit of distance between herself and the horde, but more zombies kept joining the throng of the dead from either side of the road and sometimes from the road directly in front of her.
Her days of running track helped her to maintain a steady pace. With the dead so slow and clumsy, she dodged them as they came at her from either side. Whenever a zombie appeared in front of her, she ran a small loop around it.
If she could just put some distance between them, she could stop and find a place to hide. But the dead kept coming. The horde of thousands was far enough behind her that they weren’t of immediate concern. She just hadn’t anticipated so many zombies coming from the shadows to join the horde.
She began to tire but pushed herself to keep going. Just a little further, just a little further she kept telling herself. Clammy cold fingers brushed against her arms and back as she ran but they didn’t find purchase. Each touch was spine chilling and caused her skin to tingle with revulsion.
Just a little further.
About The Author
Jaime Hernandez
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading! If you have a moment, please leave a review on Amazon. Your reviews help us indie authors more than you may realize. Each and every review helps to generate more exposure for Chronicles of the Undead: Urban Gridlock creating more of an opportunity for other readers to discover and read the book.
Look for Book 2 of Chronicles of the Undead in Summer 2021!
About the Author
Jaime Hernandez is a lover of all things horror, animals, zoos, tattoos, reading and writing. Born and raised in Ohio, she met her Texan husband online in a FB group, married him, and moved to Dallas. She has two amazing daughters and four crazy dogs. She's a proud stay-at-home mom and author. In her past life she was the owner of a pet sitting business, but her true passion has always been writing. She's a huge fan of the zombie apocalypse genre in both books and on the big screen.
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Books By This Author
Chronicles of the Undead Book 1: Urban Gridlock
The Zombie Road Fan Fiction Collection
Chronicles of the Undead | Book 1 | Urban Gridlock Page 29